Xiaomi
Xiaomi builds phones, a large connected-home range and, since 2024, electric cars. It reached scale by selling hardware at thin margins and making its money on everything around it.
About Xiaomi
Xiaomi is one of the largest phone makers in the world, and the way it got there is the interesting part. It built its early business selling hardware at margins conventional manufacturers considered impossible, on the argument that the device is the entry point to services, accessories and a connected-home range rather than the product itself. For years that meant selling online only, direct, with no retail markup to carry. The range now runs from budget handsets to flagships, and far past phones: scooters, air purifiers, rice cookers, televisions, wearables and a rapidly growing electric car business. Very little of it is unrelated to the phone, because the phone is what controls it. The company was founded in Beijing in April 2010 by Lei Jun, previously president of the software company Kingsoft, together with seven partners. Its budget line Redmi became a separate sub-brand in 2019, and POCO - launched in India in 2018 - was separated the same way. All three remain part of Xiaomi Corporation.